Yet another metaphorical female rage film…deadpan humor, platinum blonde hair, nobody gives a shit, “howz that goin’ for you?” Apparently playing upon Kate Beckinsale‘s real-life rep as a man-eater…well, a young-man eater. Directed by Tanya Wexler, the niece of Haskell Wexler.

I’ve been trying to find the name of the gravel-voiced, gray-haired actor playing the FBI guy in this jailhouse conference scene with Junior Soprano (Dominic Chianese). Or the episode in which this conversation happens. No luck so far.

“Junior” and Chianese were born close together — Chianese in 1931, “Junior” in ’29 or thereabouts. Corey Stoll, 45, will play the 40ish Junior in The Many Saints of Newark. Chianese’s best known role before he lucked into his long-running Sopranos role was “Johnny Ola”in The Godfather, Part II, whom Chianese portrayed when he was 42.

And if there’s a God, The Many Saints of Newark (Warner Bros./HBO Max, 10.1) will play at Telluride. You can tell it has character, texture…you can tell it’s an actual film made by and for people who are invested in Tri-State area mythology. And you can sense that ardent fans of this film will be…how to put this?…somewhat less enamored of Black Widow.

I can relate, by the way. I grew up (painfully) in New Jersey, and I didn’t apply myself in high school either.

Posted on 12.19.19:

Black Widow (Disney, 7.9) has been screened for the usual salivating suspects, including your MCU fanboys and fangirls. I’ll bet $10K that their reactions are, for the most part, completely without meaning or resonance or trust. At 134 minutes it’s almost certainly going to be a form of punishment for anyone who isn’t a Marvel cultist, especially given that it’s half an origin story — a form of imprisonment in itself. A significant (large?) percentage of critics will default with positive reviews due to the gender representation factor (Scarlet Johansson, Florence Pugh, Cate Shortland directing). But you know what’s coming. Almost certainly a burn, completely negligible, etc. I’m not looking forward to sitting through two hours and 14 minutes of this — what reasonable person of taste would be? Plus Natasha Romanoff has left this mortal coil. Yes, of course — death is an utterly meaningless concept within the MCU, but I saw Endgame…

Ned Beatty‘s recent passing took a lot of us back to John Boorman‘s Deliverance (’72). Released 49 years ago, it was perfect for its time, but would probably not be right for ours. Sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone.

It’s too white, for one thing. And I’m not sure audiences would want to see an action thriller triggered by the anal rape of an overweight suburban salesman by some unwashed toothless hillbilly — that’s some rough stuff. But what a primal, fascinating tale.

Deliverance was the first and possibly the last well-made drama that scared viewers half to death with the idea that city and suburban folk should stay the hell out of the primitive areas of this country and far away from the residents of these cultures. A film that said “you don’t want to know those people, and they don’t want to know you.”

The basic attraction of Deliverance is the thrill, danger and horror of four suburban guys on a nourishing canoe trip down a beautiful wild river, and how, for a while, it all seems like the greatest woodsy adventure ever.

Until everything turns around in the darkest way imaginable…sexual assault, bloody murder, hiding a body, another killing, a subsequent life or death struggle to survive by having to kill again and and then, back in civilization, having to lie their way out of a possible arrest and prosecution in the aftermath. And all it happening in the midst of a bucolic hillbilly hell — leafy, primal, horrific.

Did Deliverance paint an incorrect and malicious portrait of deep-rural types? Yes, and them’s the breaks. But there’s never been another horror film quite like it. And despite the restrained realistic vibe and first-rate dialogue and Vilmos Zsigmond‘s magnificent cinematography, that’s exactly what it is — a southern nightmare trip.

I wonder how familiar under-40 audiences are with Deliverance, and whether a remake could work. Would there be complaints from the LGBTQ community that a depiction of male rape might somehow demonize homosexuality? (I’ve always wondered if the male rape scene in Pulp Fiction was inspired by Deliverance.)

I’m also wondering how the original would have played if Sam Peckinpah had directed it. It’s probably for the best that he didn’t. The film benefits from Boorman’s deft, somewhat artsy touch.

I’m also wondering how it would’ve played if Gene Hackman, Lee Marvin or Jack Nicholson had played the Jon Voight part. Or if Marlon Brando had played the Burt Reynolds role. Or if Donald Sutherland or Charlton Heston had taken a whack at it.

Any time someone posts any kind of “hooray, the Donald is going down!,” the HE commentariat always says “take the needle out of your arm…nobody is going to indict a rich ex-President and make it stick…the man is all but bulletproof…the only thing that can stop him is death itself,” etc. Please tell me what is suspect or unlikely about what Richard Signorelli has tweeted here. Loans will be called in, properties will be liquidated, no new deals, no liquor licenses, etc.